Click once install for Microsoft Application Development

Microsoft has announced the release of its Web Platform installer 1.0, its a free tool that can be downloaded here. And Microsoft do provide a video tutorial for easier installation.

The Web Platform Installer (Web PI) is a simple tool that installs Microsoft’s entire Web Platform, including IIS, Visual Web Developer 2008 Express Edition, SQL Server 2008 Express Edition and the .NET Framework.

Using the Web Platform Installer’s user interface, you can choose to install either specific products or the entire Microsoft Web Platform onto your computer. The Web PI also helps keep your products up to date by always offering the latest additions to the Web Platform.

This latest version of Web PI has been in beta since late November and has been inching its way from Release Candidate stage to its current 1.0 Release-to-Web status. Earlier issues, such as lack of support for Windows XP and Windows 2003, have been overcome. It also allows the installation of ASP.NET MVC and Visual Studio Tools.

So no more scrambling to find Windows CD for IIS installation on your machine. Atleast that is what happens with me every time I have to install IIS I realize that my windows CD is either at a friends place or I have lost it. Please leave comments with your experiences.